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get to know me meme: [1/5] favourite books → The Picture of Dorian Gray

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Found some fascinating old books. Good things about them:

they give you a sense of belonging to the unknown mystical past 

it’s like sharing a book with someone else. A gentle handshake with another reader whose face is forever concealed from you 

forgotten bookmarks, inscription and comments 

everything else

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16 de octubre de 1854 - Oscar Wilde (Dublín, Irlanda)

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💭

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“Time is jealous of you…”

The Picture of Dorian Gray - 1945 - Hurd Hatfield as Dorian Gray

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I went on a weekend trip.

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These two girls at AnimeNext cosplayed as The Picture of Dorian Gray and I have never been more excited and impressed; so creative!

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BEN BARNES AS DORIAN GRAY

THE PICTURE OF DORIAN GRAY

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My lover, Lord Alfred Douglas.

Lord Alfred Douglas, nicknamed Bosie, was a young aristocrat and poet, the youngest son of the Marquess of Queensberry.

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Fall air is great for reading

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Halloween Reads

The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde

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Symbolism

"...the Bride of Christ, who must wear purple and jewels and fine linen that she may hide the pallid macerated body that is worn by the suffering that she seeks for and wounded by self-inflicted pain” (Wilde). The Purple Vestment. This symbol represents the meaning behind why Dorian Gray draped his portrait in purple cloth. “The Bride of Christ” wears purple to hide a body worn by suffering and wounded by self-inflicted pain. Similarly, the portrait of Dorian Gray becomes ugly and aged because of the sins he has committed, or “the self-inflicted pain”.

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Irony

When Dorian loves Sibyl Vane, she does not love Dorian (she does not know him). When Sibyl loves Dorian he falls out of love with her. When Dorian loves Sibyl again, Sibyl does not love Dorian (because she is dead).

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Youth

‘"For there is such a little time that your youth will last—such a little time. The common hill-flowers wither, but they blossom again. The laburnum will be as yellow next June as it is now. In a month there will be purple stars on the clematis, and year after year the green night of its leaves will hold its purple stars. But we never get back our youth. The pulse of joy that beats in us at twenty, becomes sluggish. Our limbs fail, our senses rot. We degenerate into hideous puppets, haunted by the memory of the passions of which we were too much afraid, and the exquisite temptations that we had not the courage to yield to. Youth! Youth! There is absolutely nothing in the world but youth’” (Wilde)!

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Influence

"You look exactly the same wonderful boy who, day after day, used to come down to my studio to sit for his picture.  But you were simple, natural, and affectionate then.  You were the most unspoiled creature in the whole world.  Now, I don't know what had come over you.  You talk as if you had no heart, no pity in you.  It is all Harry's influence, I see that" - Basil Hallward (Wilde).

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The Monster of Dorian Gray

“The Picture of Dorian Gray” is a novel about Dorian Gray, a wealthy and handsome young man. A portrait of him was painted by an artist named Basil Hallward, who is Dorian’s biggest fan. Dorian prayed that he could keep his youth forever. This wish was influenced by a man he thought to be very clever. His name is Lord Henry and he lives by hedonistic views. Throughout the story he messes around with Dorian’s life, to keep himself amused. Dorian falls in love with a lowly actress named Sibyl Vane. But when she professed her love to Dorian, he left her, causing her immense pain. She killed herself because of what Dorian thought of her. At first he pitied Sibyl, but Henry spoke to him and his remorse was deterred. When Sibyl dies his portrait seems to change. The portrait began to turn ugly, its beauty was exchanged. As Dorian grows older his beauty and youth remains. The portrait bears all his ugliness, aging, and pains. Dorian discovers that evil acts cause his real life appearance no harm. He commits horrendous crimes, yet still carries on with charm. He hides the picture away in a locked room. For every time he sees the ugly portrait he is filled with gloom. The portrait practically drives Dorian insane. He was unaware that Lord Henry’s advice was all done in vain. Dorian blames Basil for making his horrid painting come to life. He is enraged with anger, killing Basil Hallward with a knife. The story carries on, the portrait gets uglier, and Dorian still has his youth. Lord Henry remains his friend, sits back and poses as a sleuth. The novel eventually comes to a point where Dorian wants to become good. Yet, since he could not admit to killing Basil, he never would. He believes his portrait, his curse, has caused him all his troubles. Because of this portrait any pain he might have felt in a normal life has doubled. He ponders what he should do about this monster who has brought him such pain. He decided the portrait must be slain. He went at the portrait, but the tables had turned. His soul reclaimed his body, his lesson was learned. The advice he had gotten and the life he lived caused the good inside of him to go astray. Lying dead on the floor was the hideous and aged Dorian Gray.